Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout Tasting

I wanted to start reviewing some of my beers that I have made over the last 6 months. Being I think it's weird writing this we will see how it goes. I wanted to start with one of the most unique beers that I have been able to brew to date. 8-9 months ago I brewed up a Oaked RIS that went into a Jack Daniels Whiskey barrel for 6 months. The barrel had a Belgian Strong Dark that was already in it so the whiskey taste and flavors were mostly gone into that beer. During the 6 months in the barrel the beer fermented more due to a lactic infection, which I would assume came from the open air and not from anyone's beer.

Well once racked out of the barrel we racked in the Oaked American Strong which hopefully will be reviewed later, it has about 3-4 more months to go before its ready to bottled. I bottled the beer to about 2.1 volumes of CO2 using a rehydrated pack of Safale T-58 yeast and it has bee aging for about 2 months. At bottling the lactic sourness was very present and upfront, masking most of the wonderful flavors in the beer. Also the beer is a bit thin due to the extra fermentation that took place in the barrel drying the beer out. All the long chain sugars that were produced with a high mash temp were gobbled away by the bacteria causing the thinness to come through. As you can see form the picture there is quite a head on this beer, but it quickly goes away into pure blackness after a few minutes once the beer starts to warm up. Over the 2 months it has been in the bottle this beer has changed a ton. I was worried at first that it would end up being too sour, but as it's aged the beer has become more complex. If you drink the beer kind of warm (55-60 degrees) you will get a very complex taste of flavors that would rival any wine made today.

In the nose you get a coying sourness along with some alcohol and a hint of chocolate and vanilla, as the beer warms the chocolate and roastyness comes out in the nose more. Taste is of Chocolate, Vanilla, Raisins or some kind of dark fruit. My palate is not good enough to pick up on everything, but I think there also might be a hint of cherries or cranberries in there as well. In the finish I get some tobacco , coffee and the bite from the lactic acidity. I think I am also picking up some slight smokiness in there as well. Like I said the beer is complex as hell and I can't even begin to describe it here. All I can say about it is that it might be the best barrel aged beer I have ever had. Quite good and as it gets older it's only going to get better. I cant wait to taste this a year from now and see whats it's like. I have a full 5 gallons of it bottled so it should last for quite a while.